


Cold Lips and Untold Stories

by KarterAwsten



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Coming Out, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Trans Malcolm Bright, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26401840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarterAwsten/pseuds/KarterAwsten
Summary: As Malcolm, Jt and Dani are on their way back from a lead in a case, it goes horribly wrong. A hospital visit and quite confession later, Malcolm finally felt a little more at peace.
Relationships: Gil Arroyo & Malcolm Bright, Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright & JT Tarmel
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	Cold Lips and Untold Stories

When Gil had first met Malcolm when he was young, he was not quite the same as the profiler that stood before him today. One of the biggest differences is that the young child who called the police in regard to Martin had been a young girl called Sarah, her long hair pulled into pigtails and a pink nightdress on her body. Sarah had whispered into the young detective’s ear about what her father was planning on doing to him, after that Gil had always been there for the young girl.  
Sarah knew from a young age that she wasn’t a girl and never understood why she couldn’t have short hair or play with ‘boys’ toys. She was not able to talk about this until she was 15 and one night when she was at the Arroyos and ended up crying in Jackie and Gils arms while explaining what was wrong. They sat there with the small scared girl in their arms and reassured her that there was nothing wrong with the way she felt. Sitting down and explaining to Jessica that her eldest daughter was in fact her only son was difficult, but she just held Sarah to her chest crying that she had a son.

A month later there was no longer Sarah Whitley, Instead Malcolm Brightly was left in her place. Gone was his long brown locks, replaced with a short stylish hair cut perfect for the 15-year-old that he was. He went on testosterone when he hit 16, the changes coming slowly at first and then coming quickly after that. He was 19 when he got top surgery, Jessica paying for it when Malcolm was ready. 

Years later after Malcolm had finished university, joined and fired the FBI Gil had came back to him asking for consultancy on a case. This continued for a while, until there was a case that took them into the middle of a frozen forest in the middle of a snow storm. Jt and Dani were both dressed perfectly for the cold snowy hike, Gil was still back at the station and Malcolm was impeccably dressed in one of his three-piece suits, pea coat and oxfords. He felt shivers come up his arm as they walked down the snowy path back to their SUV, he was slightly behind the two detectives due to the fact that he was shivering so bad and didn’t want them to see. What didn't help was the fact that his shoes were not designed to walk on these slippery paths. His peacoat was covered in snow that had now melted, seeping through the material and drenching the clothes underneath. The longer they were walking, the more and more snow soaked through the coat which was now chilling Malcolm to the core. 

They were on a lead in connection to a recent case where multiple young boys had been kidnapped and they thought that this was one of the places that they might have been held during their capture. These sorts of cases were always Malcolm’s least favourite to work on, any case containing young children make his skin crawl. However, after they got their they found the place to be empty with no obvious signs that its been used in a long time considering the thick layers of dust that were on every single surface. 

It was on the walk back that Malcolm started to panic about how cold he was. Every single step hurt more than the last and he was rapidly losing the feeling in his arms and legs. Jt and Dani were ahead blissfully unaware of what the young profiler was currently going through. Malcolm could feel himself becoming more and more sluggish the closer the trio got back to their car, he knew in the back of his mind that these signs were not good and he should let the Jt and Dani know what was happening but he felt too much pride to ask for help. 

He was able to feel his chest become tighter with each icy cold breath he took, his legs turned to jelly, and his world turned to black. 

In front Jt and Dani were walking back in a comfortable silence, enjoying the chilly weather when they heard a loud thud behind them and turned around to find the consultant in a pile on the floor. They both turned around and quickly ran back to him. Jt straight away turned the smaller male onto his back and was shocked to see ice crystals on Malcom’s long eye lashes, his face more pale than usual and his lips completely blue. There were small shivers that wracked his body, the body that Jt had never realised was so small until this exact moment. He snapped into action checking Malcom’s breathing and pulse, cursing when he felt the slowness of his heartbeat and the shallowness of his breaths. Looking further down Malcolm’s body he saw the peacoat that was fully saturated, the once blue pants that were now blank due to the amount of water that they were currently holding in. He quickly scooped the profiler into his arms and started running, the car was only a 10-minute walk away and only 5 minutes if he was running. 

As soon as Jt scooped Malcolm up he knew that he was too light, they all knew that Malcolm hardly ate and barely took care of himself, but he didn’t expect a fully grown man to weigh as little as he did especially considering he was currently weighed down with water. Tj was able to hear Dani running behind him before overtaking him and running to the car yelling that she was going to get it started and get the med kit out of the back where they kept a blanket. As Jt ran he looked down at the young man clutched within his grasp and started to run quicker as his breaths were even shallower than they were minutes prior. 

As soon as Jt got to the car he got into the backseat with the profiler and tried to remember what he was told for when someone was experiencing hypothermia. He knew that he had to get the sodden clothes off the profiler and said a quick sorry as he slowly pulled the expensive pieces of material off his body. The coat came off first before moving onto Malcolm’s shoes and socks that he was sure cost more than he earned in a month. Jt said a small sorry to the man, who currently looked more like a boy, as he pulled the layers of cloth that he used as armour off his slowly freezing body. When he got the trousers, waistcoat and suit jacket off the only thing that was left was the white shirt. 

As Jt quickly unbuttoned the shirt and pulled it open he looked down at Malcolm’s chest and torso in shock. He knew that after everything the profiler had been through with cases and just general life there was going to be some marks let on his pale skin but Jt wasn’t ready for the two white scars that sat just under Malcolm’s pectoral muscles. He looked down at them with multiple different feelings flowing through him: shock, concern and mostly confusion. He had never seen marks like this on someone before. Pushing the thought to one side he grabbed the thick blanket that sat on the footwell next to malcolms head and wrapped it around the man before turning back to Dani. 

She looked back at him with a look of confusion in her eyes, she had obviously also seen the scars on Malcolm’s chest but neither of them mentioned it as Dani raced towards the local hospital. Jt sat there in his own mind, Malcolm’s head was now resting on Jt’s thigh, so he was able to keep a better check on his heartrate and rate of breath. Jt knew that the scars looked very healed by this stage, they had gone to a very pale colour and almost perfectly matched. They fit perfectly to the curve and contour of Malcolm’s chest. They were basically invisible at this stage but Jt had been so close and he was used to looking for small details. 

As Jt was in a world of his own Malcolm started to very slowly stir from his cold induced slumber feeling incredibly confused, the last thing he remembered was walking back to the car and now he’s in the backseat wrapped in a blanket, his head on something that was warm and slightly soft and he could feel the soft but slightly scratchy material of a blanket against his torso and legs. At this moment, his eyes shoot open realising he could not feel the soft luxurious material of his suit and shirt against his now ice-cold skin. He looked up at Jt, the feeling a panic and dread filling his frozen chest. He had a feeling Jt would not know what these scars meant or were from but there was the small chance he did, he had always wanted to come out on his terms not like this. He looked up at Jt with hooded eyes who just sent a small smile down at the younger man, one filled with reassurance before his eyes closed again and he felt his body being picked up. 

They lay in a hospital gurney that was brought to them. Jt and Dani thought it swamped the younger boy but the hospital staff pulled him away saying that the two detectives had to stay where they were. They then realised they had to call up Gil explaining the situation. At first Gil panicked and started to interrogate the detective on what had happened, Jt completely understand why the verbal assault was happening. From what he knows Malcolm had basically became Jackie and Gils son after everything that happened with the surgeon so when Gil heard his sort of son was in hospital with early hypothermia it’s no surprise that the man started to panic. But he really did not want to explain anything more than that over the phone, so he said the name of the hospital they were at before hanging up. 

20 minutes later, there was still no further word on the frozen man . Loud echoing footsteps could be heard echoing in the empty hospital walls. Jt and Dani looked up from the uncomfortable waiting room chairs to see their elder walk in with a panicked expression on his face. Before Jt was able to fully explain what had happened in the cold woods a doctor came out asking for Malcolm’s family and all 3 rushed to the doctor, it had been around 45 minutes since Malcolm’s collapse and 25 since Jt had seen the slightly raised white scars. After the confirmation from the doctor that Malcolm was going to be okay and that he was extremely lucky that Jt had quickly pulled him out of the wet clothes he was going to be perfectly okay, there was a high chance he was going to feel slightly chilly for the next few days but that was perfectly normal. As soon as they were given the heads up that he was able to have visitors, they all agreed to let Gil go in first followed by Jt and then Dani last as they didn’t want to overwhelm the male. 

Malcolm sat in the stiff hospital bed, feeling much warmer than he felt earlier. The chill had left his bone but now a sense of dread filled them. He knew he had to explain to Jt and Dani the scars that they saw on his chest. He was not ashamed of them in the slightest, they show the changes in his life and he was weirdly proud off them. Jessica had been able to get an amazing surgeon, so the scars were now hardly visible. However, he knew he would not be able to just ignore it. This is one thing that he always knew he wanted to tell the team, his team, but never found the correct time to say it. Or on the couple times he was going to say something he backed out just before he opened his mouth, he knew in the rational part of his mind that the team would think no different about him Gil had told him this many times but the panic never left him. 

He let out a sigh of relief as he saw Gil walk into the room first, he was not ready to confront Jt and Dani right now. As Gil walked over to his son, the pale man in the bed gave him a small smile and chuckled as he felt the small swat connect with the back of his head before the hand moved down the back of his neck and securely gripped onto it, Gils thumb moving up and down in a comforting manner. As they sat a d talked about what had happened Gil couldn’t help and shake his head as Malcolm confessed to not feeling particularly well the morning before going out and being in the cold all day just made It a lot worse than the thought it was going to. After about 15 minutes Gil walked out and sent Jt into the room.  
As Jt stood up and walked into Malcolm’s private hospital room he let out a sigh of relief as he saw him sitting in the white bed grinning at him like a Cheshire cat. 

“You were worried about me you big softie” Malcolm teased as Jt sat down in the chair next to his bed. 

As soon as these words left Malcom’s still slightly blue lips a laugh left Jts. He knew that the cocky profiler was going to be okay. After talking about how he was feeling and why it was a stupid idea to go out when he already knew he did not feel good. 

“So, listen here man. As you already knew, in the back of the car I had to take you out of your wet clothes, and I saw these two scars under your chest. I do not know what they are man, but I just want to know you are okay. You don’t have to tell me what they are, but quite frankly I really want to know.” 

Malcom laughed as he admitted this, he knew that this had happened, and that the detective would want to know. Him and Gil had spoke about this minutes prior and decided It was finally time to tell the team about his childhood. Malcolm took a deep breath before starting. 

“I’m not sure if you ever looked into the surgeon but some people knew that he had two daughter called Ainsley and Sarah. When Gil came into my house, I told him about my father. How he was planning on killing him with the drink he was currently making. I could not let this happen. I’m sure you already are putting it together, but the young girl he spoke to, I'm Sarah. I always knew from a young age that there was not quite right, I did not fit in with anyone at school. I always wanted to play soccer with the other boys, play with stereotypically boy’s toys, I knew that I was never a girl in the first place, but society did not see this. They saw me as this young girl who was just a tomboy, I told Gil and Jackie first. I was in floods of tears while telling them, I knew there was something wrong with me, but I did not know there was a word for it. We then sat down with Jessica, explaining that I was not a girl called Sarah and that I was a boy called Malcolm. When she said the name I picked she burst out in tears, it was the name of my grandad on her side and its what she wanted to call me if I was born a boy. It went quick after that. I got my hair cut short, started binding my chest to make it more masculine and started on testosterone the year after which is hormone replacement therapy. When I was 19, I got top surgery, which is basically where they chopped my breasts chopped off. That’s what the scars you saw” 

As Malcolm kept rambling on and on, Jt could see the panic raising in him but he could also see the weightlifting off his shoulders. Jt sat back in shock as Malcolm was explaining everything and this was the last thing, he thought it was going to be. He never really looked into the case pertaining to Malcolm’s father, he wasn’t the old when everything about it came out and by the time he was a cop he was too busy with cases of his own to go reading into old solved ones. By the time that Malcolm had finished he looked up at the elder detective with a scared smile on his face and small tears in his eyes. He gave the man a smile before leaning in and giving him a large hug. While holding onto the slender male he felt the left shoulder of his t shirt start to get damp as tears fell down Malcolm’s face and shakes wracked his body. He pulled his head slightly down so he could talk into the man’s ear 

“Listen here. I’m so proud of you for telling me this, you are so brave. Ill never think any less of you due to this. “ 

And as those simple words were spoken into Malcolm’s ear a smile spread on is face. He knew that coming out was never going to easy but having these amazing people around him made it a little bit easier.


End file.
